While I’ve stepped back into reading classic novels with Invisible Man (by Ralph Ellison), I give thanks Koushun Takami (and the English translator, Yuji Oniki) for providing me with the intense Battle Royale (aka. Batoru Rowaiaru if you want to sound cool to your Japanese friends).
When I pick up a book to read, I want to be entertained and I want to want to suspend my disbelief. Give me a reason to see something other than the daily crap I deal with, some new idea, some reason to disappear into the story. Battle Royale made me say, “Oh wow honey, you’ve gotta read this book!” more times to Janna than any book I’ve recently read.
I’ll be setting up a book rating system on a separate page, but this book deserves a special nod from me here.
- Do I Recommend this book? Yes
- Standout characteristics of this book? Highly entertaining and tense. The author let’s the story tell itself. I sensed almost zero (and other authors should take note of this, including me) moments where Koushun Takami forced something to happen that went against the story’s reality.
I read somewhere that this book equals the Japanese Lord of the Flies. Koushun Takami, since you seem to have a knack for updating classics, would you write a Japanese Dark Tower, please?